Technology, Robber
Barons and immigrants,
OH MY!
Review:
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Pacific Railway Act
Morrill Land-Grant Act
Homestead Act 1862
Exodusters
Sand Creek 1864
Red Cloud War’s
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Battle of the Little Big Horn
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Ghost Dance
Battle of Wounded Knee
Assimilation
Dawes Act
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The Master of Invention!
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Thomas Edison
Light Bulb
 Phonograph
 Motion Picture
 1093 patents
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Edison's Lab
Advances in communications
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TelegraphPerfected the telegraph
 Morse Code
 Western Union (1870)
 1900- 900,000 miles of wire 63
million messages
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Advances in technology
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Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell (Scottish
immigrant)
 Earliest line only
connected two lines
Created switchboards
 1900 1.5 million
telephones in use
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Transcontinental Railroad
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At first, no standard rail gauge,
short lines, no signals, costly
delays
Expanded after Civil War
Transcontinental Railroad
started in 1862 funded by
government grants. (Central
Pacific and Union Pacific)
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Most workers were immigrants
Two lines met in in Utah on
May10,1869 (Promontory
Summit)
Drive the golden spike
Dirty, noisy but continued to
expanded and develop
Developed schedules and
standard time
Impact of the Rails
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Faster and more practical
transportation
Lower costs of production
Creation of a nation market
Model for big business
Stimulation of other industries
The Haves
Robber Barons/Captains of
Industry
Robber Baron
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Robber baron - term revived in
the 19th century as a reference
to businessmen and bankers
who dominated their industries
and amassed huge personal
fortunes, by pursuing various
anti-competitive or unfair
business practices.
Captains of Industry
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Captains of Industry- Term
originally used in the U.S. during
the Industrial Revolution
describing a business leader
whose means of amassing a
personal fortune contributes
positively to the country in some
way.
Why is this Era so important?
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Changed from a society based
on agriculture to a society based
on industry
Captains of Industry vs
Robber Baron
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J.P. Morgan
Andrew Carnegie
John D. Rockefeller
J.P. Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913)
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John Pierpont Morgan
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financier, banker, philanthropist, and art
collector
Dominated corporate finance
Arranged merger to form General
Electric.
Financed the creation of the Federal
Steel Company he merged several
other steel and iron businesses to form
the United States Steel Corporation
By 1901, he was one of the wealthiest
men in the world
Andrew Carnegie
(November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919)
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Widely respected philanthropist, and
the founder of the Carnegie Steel
Company which later became U.S.
Steel.
Built one of the most powerful
corporations in United States history
Gave away most of his riches to
build libraries, schools, and
universities and worldwide
John Rockefeller, Sr.
(July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937)
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American industrialist and philanthropist.
Revolutionized the oil industry
Believed his purpose in life was to make as
much money as possible, and then use it
wisely to improve the lot of mankind.
Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil
He became the world's richest man and
first billionaire.
Standard Oil was convicted in the Federal
Court of monopolistic practices and broken
up in 1911.
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The Box Scores
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Year
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1904 The Times of London
$21 M
1910 The New York American $179 M
1913 The New York Herald
$332 M
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Newspaper
Carnegie
Rockefeller
$10 M
$134 M
$175 M
Sherman Anti-trust Act
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Was the first United States
federal government action to
limit monopolies, and is the
oldest of all U.S. antitrust laws
The have-nots
Immigration/labor
Immigration
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Came to the US in steamships,
often in steerage
10 million between 1865-1890
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German, Irish, British
10 Million between 1890 – 1920
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Italians, Greeks, Slavs
Immigration
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70% came through NYC- Ellis
Island
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Had to pass physical exams
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Could be quarantined (TB)
Literacy exams
Immigrants
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Chinese Exclusion Act- Chinese
labor used to build rail but Act
prevented entry to establish
residence in US
Nativism- favoring native born
Americans over immigrants
Child Labor
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As young as six years old worked up
to 19 hours a day, with a one-hour
total break.
Horrible conditions. Large, heavy,
and dangerous equipment was very
common for children to be using
Children were paid only a fraction of
what an adult
Orphans were the ones subject to
this slave-like labor.
Reformers
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Reformers – built Settlement
Houses (Hull house – Jane Adams)
Reporters/Photographers- wrote
books like The Jungle which
exposed the meat industry and
published photos
Social reformers- preached
temperance, staying away from
vice
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Tenements – low cost
housing built to hold
as many people
as possible
Turned area into slums